This article was downloaded by: [University of South Florida]

On: 08 October 2014, At: 08:44

Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,
37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tnzg20

Assessment of seismic intensities resulting from the

1987 Edgecumbe earthquake, New Zealand, and
implications for modernising the intensity scale
a a a
M. A. Lowry , S. C. Ede & J. S. Harris
a
Division Department of Scientific and Industrial Research , Seismological Observatory
Geophysics , P. O. Box 1320, Wellington , New Zealand
Published online: 05 Jan 2012.

To cite this article: M. A. Lowry , S. C. Ede & J. S. Harris (1989) Assessment of seismic intensities resulting from the 1987
Edgecumbe earthquake, New Zealand, and implications for modernising the intensity scale, New Zealand Journal of Geology
and Geophysics, 32:1, 145-153, DOI: 10.1080/00288306.1989.10421398

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00288306.1989.10421398

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained
in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no
representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the
Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and
are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and
should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for
any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever
or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of
the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic
reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any
form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://
www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
 New Zealand Journal o/Geology and Geophysics. 1989. Vol. 32: 145-153
0028-8306/89/3201-0145 $2.50/0 © Crown copyright 1989
Assessment of seismic intensities resulting from the 1987
Edgecumbe earthquake, New Zealand, and implications
for modernising the intensity scale
M.A.LOWRY
S.C.EDE
J. S. HARRIS
Seismological Observatory
Geophysics Division
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
P. O. Box 1320
Wellington, New Zealand
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
Abstract The intensity of shaking caused by the main
shock of the M 6.3 Edgecumbe earthquake of 1987, as shown
by ground def~nnation, property damage and the impressions
of witnesses, and the distribution of intensities about the
epicentre, is compared with expectations based on models
assumed by Smith. Agreement with one of Smith's regional
models is found to be good outside the epicentral area but less
good within it, possibly because of the unus.u~lly shallo,,:
depth of the source. Limitations of the ModIfIed Mercalh
(MM) scale used to classify seismic intensities in New Zealand
are discussed, and the possibility that a change to the
Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik: (MSK) scale would be
advantageous is considered but rejected. Sugge~tions are
made for minor revision of the New Zealand versIOn of the
MM scale to improve discrimination between intensities X
and XI and to allow for changes in building standards since
the current version was published. A need for more systematic
archiving of intensity data to facilitate the recovery of specific
classes of infonnation is identified.
Keywords seismic intensity; Modified Mercalli scale
(N.Z. version); MSK scale; isoseismic maps
INTRODUCTION
The Edgecumbe earthquake of 1987 March 2 caus~ more
damage than any other shock in New Zealand smce the
Inangahua earthquake of 1968. It was located in a more
densely populated and more industrialised area than
Inangahua, so that although its magnitude (MJ of 6.3 was
lower than that of the earlier earthquake (for which the most
recent magnitude estimate is 6.8) the ~ag~ cau~ was
more expensive to rectify and the SOCIal disruptlon that
resulted was greater. Unlike the lnangahua earthquake, the
one at Edgecumbe was not directly responsible for any
deaths, although it may have played a part in bringing on 1
fatal heart attack, and more than 20 injury victims were
admitted to local hospitals. There were more than 100
foreshocks and hundreds of aftershocks (Inangahua had
aftershocks only). In this paper attention will be concentrated
on the effects of the main shock.
Received 18 May 1988. accepted 18 November 1988
145
SOURCES OF DATA
None of the authors of this paper was able to visit the
epicentral area while evidence of seism.ic intensio/ was fresh,
but infonnation on the degree of shaking expenenced there
and in surrounding areas was collected at the Seismological
Observatory by all available means. The Observatory has
some 700 volunteer reporters scattered around the country,
who record their impressions of any earthquake they feel by
answering questions on a standard questionnaire. Active
recruiting is pursued in localities considered to have an
inadequate number or uneven distribution of reporters, but
the Bay of Plenty area, which encompasses the epicentral
zone of the Edgecumbe earthquake, was rather sparsely
supplied with volunteers. Further infonnation was therefore
collected by a wider distribution of questionnaires.
Members of the Geophysics Division of the Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research, visiting the epicentral
area to make instrumental observations in the days following
the earthquake, enlisted the help of Edgecumbe College
pupils and members of an Anny relief team to distribute
standard Observatory questionnaires locally.
To obtain data on the lower intensities further away from
the epicentre and determine the extent of the area over which
the earthquake had been felt or otherwise noticed, a postal
survey was conducted. Questionnaires were mailed to
householders selected from telephone directories covering all
North Island exchange areas from Whangarei in the north to
Masterton in the south. About 880 questionnaire forms were
sent out, including those sent to some 400 regular reporters
in the area under survey. The fonns were distributed as evenly
as population clustering would permit. Roughly 55% of those
contacted replied, but the coverage achieved in this way was
rather uneven. It was apparent from some completed
questionnaires that hearsay reports h~d been .added to
descriptions of the observer's own expenences WIthout any
indication of which infonnation was secondhand. As a result
it was not always clear whether all the events reported had
happened near to the observer. . .
Press and other media reports, when suffiCIently specific,
were also used as a sorirce of data. Where all other sources
failed to supply enough. infonnation, additional detail was
sometimes obtained from the Earthquake & War Damage
Commission, which allowed limited access to its assessor's
reports. These assessments were used mainly ~ clarify wh~ther
apparent anomalies which emerged from frrst analYSIS of
intensity distribution were real or misleading. .
Timing inaccuracies sometimes caused .uncertamty abo~t
whether a reported intensity should be asSIgned to the mam
shock or some other event. There were substantial shocks
distributed over quite a wide area both before and after the
main earthquake, and the sensitivity of individual observers
varies according to their activity, so it could not always be
assumed that the shock a reporter felt most strongly was
indeed the main shock. Many ofour informants were unaware
 146
BA Y OF PLENTY
VI
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
_ _ _ _- - V I I
0 5 10 15km
I I I I
~
~
Flg.l High-intensity observations and isoseismals. The positions of towns labelled but not shown by markers lie at the centres of a cluster
of observations. Fresh faulting is shown by the northeast-southwest trending lines (after Anderson & Webb 1989).
when they felt an earthquake that they would later be called
on to describe their experiences, so they were unlikely to have
taken careful note of the time. In some cases it was also
difficult to decide when damage indicating higher intensities
had been inflicted. Weakening caused by foreshocks may
have increased the damage caused by the main one, producing
an exaggeration of its effect and hence an overestimate of its
intensity. In other places the damage done by the main shock
must have been aggravated by aftershocks before its extent
was assessed. One of the Edgecumbe foreshocks and several
aftershocks were certainly severe enough to cause significant
damage to older buildings even if they had not been subjected
to earlier "softening up".
These problems highlight a general weakness of seismic
intensity scales when applied to earthquakes which are
members of a sequence. A few wrongly associated or overrated
reports, however, are not likely to materially affect the
placement of the isoseismals which broadly represent the
results of these surveys (Fig. 1 and 2). The main difficulties
were the extent of thinly inhabited or uninhabited country
from which no data could be obtained, and the absence, in
some areas, of any obvious systematic separation between
places reporting different intensities.
OVERVIEW
Intensities were assessed using the New Zealand version of
the Modified Mercalli scale (Eiby 1966); the highest intensity
experienced was in the town of Edgecumbe, some 8 or 9 km
from the instrumental epicentre, where there were a few quite
New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1989, Vol. 32
56
4
/'
VI
well established instances of MM X. The observations
justifying this high assessment include damage to river
embankments (caused both by shaking and by waves formed
in the river) and severe cracking in cement and asphalt roads
and footpaths. Other spectacular damage in the town included
a toppled railway locomotive and a row oflarge transformers,
each weighing several tons, torn from their mountings. A case
might be made for assessing damage in parts of the town as
indicating MM XI, on the basis of the extent of damage to
underground pipes and railways. The main reason for not
assigning this intensity in Edgecumbe was the absence of the
widespread destruction of wooden frame structures which
would have been expected. Inspection of sewer pipes using a
remotely controlled TV camera established that damage was
mostly to joiPts, which had been rammed together, and that
about 12% of joints were thus affected. Since concentricity
had usually been maintained, the pipes remained usable, if
leaky (Leslie: et al. 1987). This situation might perhaps be
judged to fall short of the "Great damage to underground
pipes" used by the intensity scale as an indicator of MM XI.
The damage to railway lines, which was a widespread and
notable feature of this earthquake, seemed to us to be
disproportionate to other effects expected to occur at the same
intensity. Although there were places where fishplatesjoining
lengths of rail had been torn apart, the most typical damage
was bending of rails which appeared to indicate compression
of the ground beneath them, an indication consistent with the
ramming together of underground pipes. The fact that an
earthquake associated with normal faulting should subject
such large areas to horizontal compression came as a surprise.
 Lowry et al.-Seismic intensities, Edgecumbe 147

Fig.2 Intensity observations and

isoseismals across theNorthIsland.
The dotted rectangle indicates the
area covered by Fig. 1. More zero
(earthquake not noticed) observ-
ations were received from beyond
the northern and southern borders
of this map. Representative values
(bracketed) at centres which
supplied too many observations for
individual plotting stand for:
Rotorua (1 MM VII, 6 MM V, 2
MM IV); Gisbome (1 MM VI, 4
MM V, 4 MM IV); Wairoa (5 MM
V,IMMO).

4 \

I
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014

4 o 55 5
3 151 /

~
5 GisbOmi

4
........... 15J.,Wairoa
0
4

J~
0 0 3 4
IV 0
0 00
0 80 \ 00
0

o'b 0
1
0

0
\
\ O~O
0

o 5450
0
0
o 0 "- 100km
I
o 00

The area in which MM IX was experienced extends from
Mount Edgecumbe, near Kawerau, to Matata and Thornton
on the coast, and includes the town of Te Teko and parts of
Kawerau as well as Edgecumbe (Fig. 1). Within this area,
damage to chimneys was widespread and structural
weaknesses were exposed in houses built to superseded
building codes. Some houses on piled foundations were
shifted bodily and their piles broke through the floor. There
was a single report, with much supporting detail, of damage
indicating MM IX in a house in Whakatane, but this has been
ignored in drawing the isoseismal. It seemed appropriate to
disregard "freak" indications of higher intensity in an area
where other reports indicated that the damage to the house
was not typical, although it was commented by an observer in
the epicentral area (closer to the earthquake) that damage
there was extremely variable, even between adjoining
properties, given that there were apparently no significant
differences in the construction of the houses involved (Cooney
1987).
Two areas on the eastern side of Whakatane that appear to
have been subjected to anomalously strong shaking, and
reported several instances of damage indicating MM VIII,
have been left outside the MM VIII isoseismal. One of these
areas is on relatively high ground in Whakatane and the other
on low ground near Ohope Beach. High intensities on the high
ground may have been slightly overestimated as a result of
reports of damage to houses built on pole foundations and to
split-level houses. These, like houses with irregular floor
plans, were more vulnerable to shaking than homes of more
traditional shape (Cooney 1987). However, theMMIXreport
previously mentioned came from the same part ofWhakatane
and did not concern a pole house. There was one other report
ofMM VIII in the Whakatane area, from low ground between
the left bank of the river and the sea at Coastlands. In view of
the general lack of tight control on the positioning of
isoseismals, the difference made by including the high
intensities in some parts of Whakatane just inside the MM
VIII contour would be unimportant, were it not for the
exaggerated impression it would give of the typical intensity
in the town. Possibly the consistently high intensities on the
high ground arose in the way described by Bouchon (1973),
who found analytically that a ridge can amplify surface
motion by as much as 100%.
Intensities of MM VIII at Ohope Beach were assigned
mainly because of foundation damage to houses. Although
such damage is often associated with strong shaking, it can
also be caused by ground slumping. There was evidence that
damage worsened over a period following the main earthquake
and larger aftershocks, suggesting that slumping or settling
was indeed taking place. A geologist who was staying at
Ohope Beach at the time of the main shock and for several
days thereafter, considered that the lower intensities (MM
 148 New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1989, Vol. 32

VII, VI, and V) that were reported from the same locality were
far more consistent with the damage he had seen there (R. D.
Beetham, pers. comm.). At Ohope Beach some houses stood
on sand dunes facing the shore. The stability of the ground
beneath these houses possibly varies, depending on what part
of a dune fonnedy occupied the site and how it was levelled.
AnotheroutlyingreportofMMVIII,forwhichnoobvious
explanation has been found, came from Taneatua, well south
of Whakatane and well clear of the Rangitaiki Plains (an area
of recent alluvial sediments surrounding the epicentre).
The intensity assigned to a report from the power house at
the foot of the Matahina Dam is of interest because the dam
carried five strong-motion accelerographs. The peak
accelerations recorded at the base of the dam were 0.33 g
horizontally and 0.14 g vertically (McVerry et al. 1987).
Damage to the earth dam at the time of the earthquake
appeared minimal; surface cracking occurred in abutment
areas and there was an increased flow in a drainage adit in
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
Figure 3, after Murphy & O'Brien (1977) shows that, for
damaging intensities, theMM andMSK scales are equivalent.
It should therefore be legitimate to use Table 1 as a guide to
estimating the ground acceleration experienced at the Matahina
Dam from the intensity assigned there (MM VIII). Obviously
there is a wide range of accelerations associated with MSK
VIII in Table 1, but choosing the only value that appears to
satisfy all authors (0.2 mjs2) would lead to an underestimate
of the maximum acceleration at the Matahina Dam by 40%.
For some purposes, accuracy of this order may be quite
satisfactory, but for others it clearly is not. Also there have not
been enough opportunities to compare estimated and measured
values in New Zealand for us to know whether even this order
of accuracy is typical.
The MM VIII, VII, and VI isoseismals of Fig. 1, although
not tightly constrained, give a strong suggestion that the
contour spacing increases westward along the coast, and there
is a progression from high-intensity isoseismals elongated in

rock adjacent to the spillway. Subsequent surveys revealed
that there had been settling of up to 100 mm and downstream
movement of the dam crest of up to 250 mm (Gillon 1987).
The intensity reported from the power house was assessed at
MM VII, but the dam lies within the MM VIII isoseismal of
Fig. l.
Numerous attempts have been made in the past to relate
seismic intensities to dependably measurable quantities such
as peak ground acceleration. Table 1 is a comparative
compilation of estimates made by several authors to relate
accelerations .to the steps of the MSK scale (Anon 1981).
a northeast-southwest direction to lower intensity (Fig. 2)
isoseismals elongated northwest-southeast. Lower intensity
isoseismals (MM V, IV and III) are very poody constrained
but are noticeably less symmetrical, having apparently been
influenced by differences in seismic-wave attenuation along
paths radiating in different directions. The distances from the
source to the outer isoseismals are only a few hundred
kilometres, so it is unlikely that the paths of any seismic
waves felt at the surface penetrated the Earth deeply enough
to have been influenced by subcrustal features, and an
explanation must be sought in terms oflocal geology. Energy

Table 1 Peak ground motion parameters (Anon. 1981). The original table has been converted to SI units.
Shebalin Nazarov & Darbinyan Napetvaridze Medvedev Schenk: & Schenk:ova
Intensity MSK-64 (1975) (1975) (1975) (1978) (1980)
Peak ground acceleration (mm/s2)
I 0.2-10
II 1-40
III 4-160
IV 10-500 150-400
V 120-250 20-1200 250-650
VI 250-500 40-3000 280-560 250-500 500 350-1000
VII 500-1000 80-6000 550-1100 501-1000 1000 600-1600
VIII 1000-2000 160-10000 1300-2100 1001-2000 2000 900-2500
IX 2000-4000 300-14000 2500-4400 2001-4000 4000 1350-4000
X 4000-8000 600-18000 2200-6200
XI 1200-20000 3500-10000
Peak ground velocity (mm/s 2)
III 0.5-15
IV 1-25 10-60
V 10-20 3-40 18-110
VI 21-40 10-80 30-100 20-40 50 32-200
VII 41-80 20-200 40-220 41-80 100 60-350
VIII 81-160 60-500 150-490 81-160 200 100-700
IX 161-320 120-800 250-630 161-320 400 200-1250
X 321-640 300-900 370-2300
XI 500-1000 650-4000
Peak ground displacement (mm)
III 0.01-0.1
IV 0.03-0.25 1-4
V 0.5-1 0.1-1 2.5-10
VI 1.1-2 0.3-4.5 0.7-1.7 10-20 2.5 &-22
VII 2.1-4 1-6 1.5-3.7 21-40 5 14-50
VIII 4.1-8 -20 3.4-6.8 41-80 10 30-120
IX 8.1-16 -60 6.4-16 81-160 20 70-270
X 16.1-32 150-600
XI 400-1400
 Lowry et al.-Seismic intensities, Edgecumbe
Modified Medvedev
Mercalli Sponheuer,Karnik
I I
JI:
:rr
]I[
]]I
rr TIL
y 3[
:TI E:
E E
ElI ElI
]X ]X
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
X X
:xI: :xI:
.xu: ::xu:
Fig. 3 Graphic comparison of MM and MSK seismic intensity
scales, after Murphy & O'Brien (1977),
seems to have propagated away from the source more freely
towards the east and to the south than to the west, but the mther
sparse data to the ENE suggests that there was also quite
strong ~ttenuation in that direction, The contours suggest
attenuatlOn along paths with a high proportion of their length
in the Central Volcanic Region (Fig. 2) was more severe than
that along other paths, but the apparently rapid attenuation to
the ENE and relatively free propagation to the northwest do
not fit this pattern. A report of MM VII from the west coast of
the Coromandel Peninsula is anomalous although based on
ample data; it has been ignored in drawing the isoseimals of
Fig, 2, Presumably such anomalies arise from a coincidence
of the resonant frequency of the building affected with the
resonant frequency of the site and a frequency present in the
seismic-wave train. The detached group of MM IV reports
among the zero values (not noticed) from around Palmerston
North are probably not significant: MM IV is often the lowest
intensity noticed at a busy time of day, although it may be
more perceptible in tall buildings. (The earthquake occurred
at 1:42 p.m. N.Z. Standard Time, on a Monday.)
Important features of Fig. 1 are the agreement of the
direction of the MM IX isoseismal with the direction of
faulting, and the way the elongation in this direction decays
rapidly as as the intensity falls. All the observed faulting lies
within the MM IX contour, but it is possible that some of the
breaks were associated with aftershocks.
COMPARISONS WITH EXPECTATIONS
Smith (1978) found that there is a tendency for the elongation
of isoseismals in New Zealand to favour a strike of 40/2200 ,
or the perpendicular direction 130/3100 ; he published a map
showing regions within which each of these directions was
dominant, and typical mtios of the lengths of the axes. The
expected direction of elongation in the Edgecumbe area is
149
REGION B
Fig.. 4 Map showing position of the Edgecumbe epicentre in
relatIon to the regions defmed in Smith (1978).
130/3100 , but the typical ellipticity in the region is smal1. In
constructing his map, Smith was obliged to depend largely on
data collected from earthquakes not associated with known
surface faulting, because faulting has been found after
comparatively few New Zealand earthquakes. The MM IX
isoseismal shows strong elongation in roughly the 40/2200
direction but the medium-intensity isoseismals VII and VI
show elongation in a direction closer to that e~pected fron:
Smith's map. It appears that the surface faulting has influenced
the shape of the inner, higher intensity isoseismals without
having any marked effect on the lower intensity contours.
Such an effect has been reported from earthquakes on a
number ?f fault systems in Europe by Prochazkova (1981),
who attnbuted the near-field pattern to seismic energy in the
epicentral area propagating more intensely along the direction
of faults. In the Edgecumbe'earthquake, this elongation of the
inner isoseismals probably reflects the propagation of the the
main fault rupture from the initial break southwestward some
9 km toward the focus 'of a second subevent (Anderson &
Webb 1989, this issue).
Another comparison with past experience can be made
with respect to the fall-off of intensity with increasing distance
from the epicentre. Smith (1978) divided the country into
three regions, for each of which he presented curves showing
the typical reduction of intensity with distance. Figure 4
shows Smith's regions in the North Island, and Fig. 5 and 6
show the typical intensity/distance relationships he found in
his regions B and A. The Edgecumbe epicentre lies in region
B but quite close to the border with A. The fall-off ofintensity
along the 40/2200 strike as mapped in Fig. 1 and 2 has been
superimposed on Smith's curves in Fig. 5 and 6. The most
 150
8 220 0 azimuth direction.
~ 7
·iii
c:
Q)
£ 6
5
4
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
20
Epicentral distance .(km)
obvious interpretation of the fit of the observations to the
idealised curves is that the Edgecumbe earthquake was of the
type expected to originate in region A, but with a slightly
steeper fall-off of intensity with increasing distance than is
usual. That the earthquake could be of the region A type is not
too surprising, as the boundary between the regions is not
exactly located and is not necessarily a "watertight" one.
Higher than predicted intensities in the epicentral region
probably reflect the unusually shallow depth of origin. The
Edgecumbe origin was uncommonly shallow even for region
B, where crustal earthquakes usually originate at rather
shallower depth than in region A, so this interpretation
implies that the essential difference between seismic
attenuation in the two regions is not strongly controlled by
depth. Smith (1978) says that, in the data-set he used to
establish the typical pattern, "All isoseismals for anyone
earthquake were found to have approximately the same ratio
of axes." That is not true of the Edgecumbe earthquake in
which the ratio of the axes varied considerably. It may
therefore be wiser to categorise the Edgecumbe earthquake as
atypical, and draw no generalised conclusions from it unless
supporting evidence can be found elsewhere.
Shebalin (1961) put forward a method of relating the
depth of an earthquake of known magnitude to the epicentral
intensity, and published an empirical formula:
10 = 1.5 M - 3.5 log h + 3.0 ( 0 < h < Ha)
where 10 is the epicentral intensity, M is the magnitude, h is the
depth of focus in kilometres, andHa some depth, approximately
80 km, above which the equation holds. (A different formula
is used for greater depths.) Taking 10 as 10 (the maximum
intensity reported from Edgecumbe) and M as 6.3 (the
magnitude of the main shock) this yields a depth of about
5 km. However MM X was assigned to only a small number
of places in Edgecumbe town, and MM IX is probably a more
representative figure for the epicentre. Changing 10 to 9
results in a depth estimate of about 10 km. Using an empirical
formula developed in another part of the world is not the
method of choice for determining depths when other means
New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1989, Vol. 32
MM Fig. 5 Comparison of distance
from the epicentre to isoseismals
IX as drawn in Fig. 1 and 2, with the
typical distance/intensity decay
curves of Smith (1978) for
earthquakes in region A of Fig. 3.
VIII
Measurements were made in the
VII
VI
V
IV
III
are available, but application of the formula here has produced
an estimate in reasonably good agreement with the
instrumentally determined 8 km (Anderson & Webb 1989).
Shebalin's equation also produced a depth estimate consistent
with other evidence when it was applied to the Inangahua
earthquake of 1968 (Adams & Lowry 1971). If found to be
generally applicable in New Zealand conditions, the formula
could be useful for refining predictions of earthquake hazard.
LIMITATIONS OF INTENSITY SCALES
Seismic intensity scales have been criticised by engineers for
being too subjective to be of any real value; other workers
maintain that they are objective when properly applied (Eiby
1976). In practice it is not always possible to be fully objective.
When the only report from a critical location is not sufficiently
detailed, it is necessary for the assessor either to assume that
the unspecified conditions conform to his own conception of
normality, or to take the context of the report (so far as it is
known) as a guide and argue that the conditions were in some
way exceptional. The assessor must work with reports from
observers whose judgement may sometimes be at fault. For
example, it must be very hard for a witness to know if people
seen running immediately after an earthquake are in a panic
a
or merely in hurry; yet panic, and lower levels of alarm, are
symptoms usdd to recognise degrees of intensity. On the other
hand, well-designed scales offer not one, but several criteria
for determining whether a particular step on the scale has been
reached, so that in suitable circumstances (i.e., when the
potential for enough diagnostic symptoms to appear exists) a
"consensus" of appropriate symptoms can overwhelm a single
contrary indication, and an intensity can still be established
beyond reasonable doubt.
The essential virtue of intensity scales is that they make
possible the use of information collected some time after an
event for which little or no preparation has been made. This
information may not be ideally suited to the needs of engineers
but can be very useful to others, such as insurance actuaries
 Lowry et al.-Seismic intensities, Edgecumbe
Fig. 6 Comparison of distance 10
from the epicenlre to the isoseis-
mals of Fig. 1 and 2, with Smith's
distance/intensity curves for
earthquakes in region B of Fig. 3. 9
8
7
~
"iii
c:
Cll
:E 6
5
4
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
20
and Civil Defence planners. Nevertheless, the needs of
engineers were in the minds of the originators of the MSK
scale, who clearly hoped to relate it reliably to useful
engineering design parameters. Their success is debatable
(see Table 1), but the MSK scale has found some acceptance
in eastern Europe and has been promoted for adoption as an
international intensity scale. There are some advocates of
replacing the New Zealand version of the MM scale by the
MSK scale. However, making a change from one scale to the
other would only rarely result in a change of the intensity
assigned to any report of interest to engineers, as the diagnostic
criteria for corresponding steps on both scales are very
similar, except at the lowest levels.
Eiby (1976) pointed out that a merit of New Zealand
intensity ratings is that they are based on a version of the
Mercalli scale that has been specifically designed for New
Zealandconditions. Lack oflocal data, however, dictated that
the symptoms of high intensity had to be taken from older
scales. (Some adaptation to local conditions is necessary for
any scale, as the onset of various levels of damage depends to
some extent on building construction standards.) Since it was
published in 1966, the New Zealand scale has been quite well
tested up to moderate intensities, but onl y the 1968 Inangahua
earthquake and the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake have reached
intensity X or XI. At XI the scale seems deficient, offering
only three symptomatic indicators, and there is reason to
doubt the diagnostic value of one of these-damage to
underground pipes. This form of damage was considered a
satisfactory indicator in early versions of the MSK scale, but
a more recent report (Anon. 1981) has recommended that
references to underground-pipe damage should be deleted
from the descriptions of degrees IX, X, and XI of the scale.
The lack of a broader description of MM XI on the existing
New Zealand scale made discrimination between MM X and
XI difficult when assessing the situation at Edgecumbe.
Reference in the scale to the effect of this intensity on various
standards of masonry construction could provide useful
additional criteria for making this distinction, but research is
151
MM
IX
VIII
VII
VI
V
IV
III
50 100 200 500 1000
Epicentral distance (km)
needed to establish just what levels of damage are to be
expected.
A limitation of both MM and MSK scales is that they
cannot be used to distinguish between damage caused by
intense shaking of short duration. less intense shaking over a
longer period, and damage caused by permanent ground
deformation. This can be important when assessing intensities
after a sequence ofearthquakes such as the oneatEdgecumbe.
in which some of the aftershocks were strong enough to have
caused damage even if they had not been preceded by other
earthquakes. It may be that repeated shaking oflow intensity
was responsible for progressive deformation of poorly consol-
idated sediments, resulting in foundation damage to houses
and possible overestimation of seismic intensities. at places
such as Ohope Beach.
MODERNISING THE NEW ZEALAND SEISMIC
INTENSITY SCALE
Any scale that relies on building damage to define levels of
intensity requires occasional changes to keep abreast with
changes in building praCtices. Almost all houses in the area at
risk from the Edgecumbeearthquake that had been constructed
in accordance with New Zealand Standard NZS 3604 (Code
of Practice for the cohstruction of Light Timber Frame
Buildings not Requiring'Specific Design) published in 1978,
escaped without structural damage (Cooney 1987). The
important influence that building practice has on damage to
houses is one reason why we think it preferable to modernise
an intensity scale with a history of use in New Zealand, rather
than switch to a scale designed with quite different dwellings
in mind (Sponheuer & Bormann 1981). That is not to say that
some improvements could not be taken over from the MSK
scale (e.g., the idea of setting percentage guidelines for what
is meant by the terms "few". "many" and "most" as they are
used in the definitions of steps on the scale).
Frame houses constructed in accordance with different
building codes can. in principle, be dealt with in a revised
 152 New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1989, Vol. 32
New Zealand scale in the same way as masonry buildings of
various standards of construction are treated at present.
However, it will take some time and a few destructive
earthquakes (or perhaps some form of simulation), to establish
the characteristic modes of failure of the new buildings and
the intensities at which these forms of damage will appear.
When this has been done, it will be part of the assessor's task
to recognise the class of a wooden building before assigning
an intensity on the basis of damage done to it.
As improved building practices move the threshold of
structural damage to completed houses into higher intensities,
it becomes necessary to look for new indicators of more
moderate intensity. To be useful, such an indicator should be
potentially available at sites widely distributed throughout
the country, and the effect of severe shaking upon it should be
easily noticeable. In the Edgecumbe earthquake, the frames
of a number of partly built houses which relied on light steel
L- orT-sections for diagonal bracing, were severely distorted.
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
The seriousness of this distortion varied, but it was particularly
severe in houses with walls unclad (both inside and out) but
with tile roofs in place. The trouble was sufficiently common
to suggest it might be a useful indicator of MM VIII or IX.
Wall claddings on completed houses built in this style
apparently brought the bracing up to an adequate standard to
protect the frames at these intensities.
The Edgecumbe earthquake also revealed the dangerous
potential of two forms of heavy furniture that are becoming
more common in homes than they used to be: (1) There were
several insurance claims relating to the movement of solid
fuel heating stoves, both when free standing and in fireplaces.
The most typical damage was separation of the fluepipe from
the fIrebox. There is no record of any of the stoves damaged
by Edgecumbe earthquake having been lit at the time, but the
risk of a house fire being started in this way is obvious. The
possibility of such stoves toppling, either directly, or after
"walking" to the edge of their plinths also exists if they are not
adequately fastened down. (2) There were several reports of
waterbeds bursting, apparently as a result of waves that had
been set up in the waterbags.
Inquiries about the Edgecumbe earthquake (and others)
made to the Seismological Observatory have shown that there
is a need for more systematic classifIcation of the information
extracted from completed reporting questionnaires and other
sources. At present, search criteria for retrieving information
are limited to date/time, locality, intensity, and associated
earthquakes (if any).
CONCLUSIONS
The way seismic intensity fell off as distance from the
Edgecumbe earthquake epicentre increased was more like
that expected in region A of Smith (1978) than in his region
B. (The epicentre lay in region B but close to the border
between the two regions.) Higher than predicted intensities
close to the epicentre reflect the unusually shallow depth of
the focus.
The study of the Edgecumbe earthquake has shown up
two main defIciencies in the New Zealand version of the MM
scale of seismic intensity. The fIrst is that MM IX is not
adequately defmed and the second that the scale does not
allow for the improvement in domestic building construction
that has followed the publication of a new building standard
in 1978. Only minor changes to the existing scale are needed
to rectify these shortcomings.
We do not consider that there would be any advantage in
adopting the MSK scale instead of the MM scale. A New
Zealand version of the MSK scale would have to be prepared,
and the criteria for recognising low intensities would be
inconsistent with those used here in the past and with those
currently used in the United States of America. However, the
criteria used to determine the higher intensities of interest to
engineers would be virtually unchanged. Attempts to link the
intensities of the MSK scale to physical parameters have met
with only limited success, and it seems better to stay with a
frankly descriptive scale rather than one which purports to be
something more. However, the MSK scale has introduced
guidelines to the meaning of the terms "few", "many" and
"most" that could usefully be incorporated into a revised
New Zealand scale.
Archiving of intensity data should be improved to facilitate
retrieval of information about specific consequences of
earthquakes such as chattel damage, structural damage,
tsunamis, and so on. Some rewording of questionnaires is also
needed to encourage observers to make it clear to the assessor
when secondhand information is being reported.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Regular and "conscripted" reporters who completed questionnaires.
W. P. Richardson, Edgecumbe College pupils. and Army Relief
Team members, for help distributing questionnaires. Building
Research Association of New Zealand. and I. Hunt, Wellington City
Council Assistant Engineer. for access to preliminary notes and
photographs from reconnaissances of the epicentral area. The
Earthquake and W ar Damage Commission for permission to inspect
some details of their assessor's reports. CarolynHume, fordraughting
the figures. G. A. Eiby, M. E. Reyners, and anonymous referees, for
reviewing the manuscript and making helpful suggestions.
REFERENCES
Adams, R. D; Lowry, M. A. 1971: The Inangahua earthquake
sequence. 1968. Royal Society of New Zealand bulletin 9:
129-135.
Anderson, H.I.; Webb, T. H.1989: The rupture process of the 1987
Edgecumbeearthquake, NewZealand.NewZealandjournal
of geology and geophysics 32: 43-52 (this issue).
Anon. 1981: Report of the ad hoc meeting of experts on up-dating
the MSK-64 seismic intensity scale, lena, 10-14 March
1980. Gerlands Beitriige zur Geophysik 90: 261-268.
Bouchon, M, 1973: Effect of topography on surface motion.
Bulletin of the Seimological Society of America 63:
615-632.
Cooney, R. C. i 1987: Structural performance: houses. Section 4.1 in:
Pend~, M. I.; Robertson, T. W. ed. Edgecumbe earthquake
reconnaissance report. Bulletin oftheNew ZealandN ational
Society for Earthquake Engineering 20: 221-227.
Eiby, G. A. 1966: The Modified Mercalli scale of earthquake
intensity and its use in New Zealand. New Zealandjournal
of geology and geophysics 9: 122-129.
---1976: Intensities: a strictly subjective view. Bulletin ofthe
New ZealandNational Society for Earthquake Engineering
9:181-183.
Gillon, M. D. 1987: Matahina dam. Section 3.3 in: Pender, M. J.;
Robertson, T. W. ed. Edgecumbe earthquake: reconnaissance
report. Bulletin of the New Zealand National Society for
Earthquakl! Engineering. 20: 212-214.
 Lowry et al.-Seismic intensities, Edgecumbe
Leslie, P. D.; Hunt, I.; Morrison, I. L. 1987: The Edgecumbe (New
Zealand) earthquake 1987. Local authority engineering in
New Zealand 3: 9-22.
McVerry, G.H.; Cousins, W. I.; Hefford,R.T.1987: Strong motion
data. Section 2.2 in: Pender, M. 1.; Robertson, T. W. ed.
Edgecumbe earthquake: reconnaissance report. Bulletin of
the New Zealand National Society for Earthquake
Engineering 20: 207-210.
Murphy 1. R.; O'Brien L. I. 1977: The correlation of peak ground
acceleration amplitude with seismic intensity and other
physical parameters. B ulletin ofthe Seismological Society of
America 67: 877-915.
Downloaded by [University of South Florida] at 08:44 08 October 2014
153
Prochazkova, D. 1981: Earthquake parameters determined on the
basis of macroseismic material. Gerlands Beitrage zur
Geophysik 90: 255-260.
Shebalin, N. V. 1961: Ball'nost, magnitude i glubina ochaga
zernletryasenii.Chapter5, pp.126-138 in: Savarenskyetal.
ed. Zernletryaseniya v SSSR. Moscow, Academy ofSciences
of the USSR.
Smith, W. D. 1978: Spatial distribution of felt intensities for New
Zealand earthquakes. New Zealand journal ofgeology and
geophysics 21: 293-311.
Sponheuer, W.; Bormann, P. 1981: Introduction to the up-dating of
the seismic scaleMSK-64. GerlandsBeitragezurGeophysik.
90: 213-216.